


Tesseract

by RoseGoldRomantic



Series: Tesseract [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:56:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27719201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoseGoldRomantic/pseuds/RoseGoldRomantic
Summary: A Loki x Reader fic I started back in highschool, that I'm re-writing and finishing. You're Agent Coulson's sister, and you've been assigned to help Dr. Selvig with his Tesseract research. What will happen when some Tesseract radiation and the God of Mischief enter your life?
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Reader
Series: Tesseract [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2027486
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter One

I hadn't asked to be a part of the tesseract project, but just because I hadn't asked didn't mean that I wouldn't be placed there. I think that my older brother, agent Phil Coulson, had something to do with it. I was placed there as a part of security, working under special agent Barton to guard and monitor the tesseract. My name is Y/N Coulson, and this is the story of myself, and the tesseract.  
Though at first quite boring, and at times rather infuriating, I soon found small parts of my new job enjoyable. Dr. Selvig was friendly, though he often poked fun at the way I was constantly misplacing my glasses. It was never enough to cause any ill will. Erik also explained some of their findings to me in words that I could understand. I had never been a science person in school, but there was something about the way Erik would describe things to me that was soothing in a way. It made the mundane description of a simple electric current seem more interesting than what I thought possible.   
Weeks into the research project, the Tesseract began acting very strangely, throwing off slight bursts of mild gamma radiation. I began to wonder if Barton wasn't smarter for sitting in the rafters, watching from afar. My post walking around on the floor wasn't exactly the safest position to be in. Suddenly, three large arcs of energy shot out from the Tesseract, all in different directions. Two went towards the cement wall, and one came straight for me, knocking me to the ground before I could dodge to avoid it. I hesitantly got up, not wanting to discover the hard way that I had been injured. Dr. Selvig and a few others rushed towards me as I stood up, Barton sliding down from his perch up above. Aside from a slightly bruised backside, nothing seemed to have hurt me.   
“Coulson, are you feeling alright?” Barton asked, his face concerned.  
“Yea,” I said, then joking, “Why, am I glowing, radioactive or something?”   
“You should probably take a look at yourself.” Selvig said, gesturing for a reflective surface to be retrieved for him.  
They handed me the stainless steel tray, and I peered at my reflection. For a moment, I noticed no difference. Then my eyes met those of my reflection. My blue eyes seemed to glow, a shade lighter to match the Tesseract. I stumbled back in shock, and my eyes dimmed slightly. Curious, I took a few steps towards the Tesseract, my eyes brightening with every step. I walked away from the glowing cube, and my eyes resumed their natural state when I was about a hundred feet away from it.  
“What is this?” I breathed.  
“I.. I don’t know.” Erik responded, “But I’ll try to find out.” he walked into his work station, muttering about finding some kind of meter gun.  
“I’m calling Fury.” Barton said, beginning to climb back up to his nest in the rafters. 

I sighed as I picked up my glasses and placed them on my face again. Perhaps the gamma radiation the cube threw at me had been enough to affect my eyes, but apparently it wasn’t going to fix my sight.  
Dr. Selvig walked over, waving some kind of instrument around my body like a TSA agent at an airport.  
“This makes no sense!” he scoffed, “This reads no different on you than it does on myself… and I wasn’t struck! I need to find out how to test this…”  
A few days passed, the research team becoming more tense as time wore on. Barton’s retelling of the Tesseract’s fit had been enough to merit a visit from Nick Fury himself. Not wishing to look like a slacker, I posted myself between the main entrance and the tesseract, eyes shifting all around the room as I stood at attention with my hands behind my back. Dr. Selvig assured me that he would vouch for my usefulness, but I declined, insisting that I let my actions speak for themselves.  
The PA system announced Fury’s arrival, and I began pacing slightly back and forth, noticing that Barton still calmly sat in his ‘nest’ in the rafters. Soon enough, Fury emerged, with my brother following, only to have Phil turn around and leave at a word from the director. As soon as Fury walked up to the scientific monitors, Dr. Selvig launched into a debriefing of the entire mission’s progression, including the unusual behavior of the tesseract itself. Barton descended from his post, speaking with Fury about what they might do.  
Before Dr. Selvig could begin telling Fury of the accident with me, the tesseract began to flux and wane, energy again visibly arcing off of the small cube. I stepped to stand behind some equipment as the cube continued to throw off energy in increasing both volume and quantity.   
Suddenly, the whole room seemed to glow with energy, the tesseract the brightest point of light in the room. A large, circular portal opened up in the research facility, around ten feet away from the cube itself. I could see what looked to be galaxies and clusters of stars in the portal, the world I lived in barely reaching into the strange doorway. Energy spread out, and the portal closed in a flaming flash, the energy rising and gathering at the high ceiling of the facility. The ceiling seemed to groan and crack, but I could not see well through the glowing blue energy field.   
I looked down to where the portal had been, and saw a figure kneeling on the ground, slight traces of Tesseract energy still rising from him like tendrils of smoke. The figure appeared to be male, clad in dark black and green leather from his shoulders to his feet. In his hand was a long, golden spear, with a sharp silver blade. The spear itself also glowed blue from one point near the blade, as if it also had a small Tesseract attached. The man glanced up, long black hair slicked back behind his head, a menacing grin on his face. He seemed pale, and almost gaunt. His eyes had dark circles around them as if he hadn’t had sleep in years. Director Fury began to speak with the strange person. Instead of respond to Fury’s questions, the man slowly stood, smiling, and began to shoot energy blasts from his spear, the tip of which glowed like the tesseract.  
I dove behind a computer lab station, taking my pistol out of its leg holster. Taking calculated aim, I fired at the strange man that had now leapt an impossible distance off of the ground and forward, and stabbed another security officer with his staff. Bullets bounced harmlessly off him, and I shuddered, knowing this was getting hopeless.   
As the man continued to take down security, I scooted around carefully to get between him and the tesseract while remaining hidden. I noticed Fury doing the same. I placed my pistol back into its holster, knowing that bullets could not harm this strange newcomer. I stood by the tesseract, watching helplessly as the man lightly touched people in the chest with the spear, their eyes darkening, then lightening to match my own when I was near the tesseract.   
Fury took out a metal suitcase that he had taken off a shelf, and took the tesseract, placing it inside the silvery box. He winced as it burned him, closing the suitcase quickly. The ceiling began to crack more from the energy trapped there, small pieces falling to the floor. As we tried to leave with the tesseract, the man spoke up for the first time since he had appeared.  
“Please don't. I still need that.” I couldn’t quite place his accent, it was unusual, like he had come from time past. There was confidence in his voice, but also the slightest hint of desperation, perhaps exhaustion.

“This doesn't have to get any messier.” Fury responded, stopping. 

“Of course it does. I've come too far anything else.” the man said, his voice deep and intimidating. “I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose.” The room seemed to chill by a few degrees as the words left his mouth, a smile spreading across his pale face.

Dr. Selvig interjected briefly, “Loki, brother of Thor.”

At the Dr.’s statement, Loki glared at him with such an intense stare, I felt weak at the knees. The hatred seemed to radiate off him at the mention of his brother.

“We have no quarrel with your people.” Fury said, and I slowly began to realize what was going on.

“An ant has no quarrel with a boot.” Loki responded, seemingly less irritated now.

“Are you planning to step on us?” Fury responded, confirming my theory.

Fury was stalling for time.

“I come with glad tidings, of a world made free.” Loki said, smiling a bit.

“Free from what?”

“Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart…” Loki answered, touching Dr. Selvig with his staff, turning the Dr.’s eyes the unearthly blue. “...you will know peace.”

The ceiling cracked further, the energy that had collected beginning to fluctuate as it had before Loki’s arrival. The room rumbled slightly, putting myself and Fury even more on edge.

“Yeah, you say "peace," I kind of think you mean the other thing.” Fury said. I realized that unless I wanted to die, I should probably play along that the staff had changed me. My eyes already glowed, all I had to do was stay close to the tesseract, or possibly even just the staff that Loki held. It was a foolhardy plan, but it was all I had. Better to live to fight another day than die pointlessly unable to prevent anything.

Barton soon spoke up, blue eyes in startling contrast from his normally brown ones. “Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us.”

“Like the pharaohs of old.” Fury said, resigning himself to his own death. He looked at me sternly, and I understood. I made like I was walking away from Fury, aligning with Loki, and hoping that the angered god would fall for the trick.

“He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself.” Selvig said, checking a few monitors. “We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical.”

“Well, then…” Loki said, nodding to Barton. 

Barton took aim and fired at Fury, knocking Fury to the ground and leaving the tesseract defenseless. I followed Loki as close as I dared, hoping my assumption regarding my eyes and his staff was correct. It seemed that it was, as he merely glanced at me before moving on, Barton grabbing the case and following both of us out towards the vehicles. 

We marched out towards the jeeps, passing a confused agent Hill. I tried to shoot her a warning look as I sat inside the backseat of the jeep, Loki climbing into the truck bed portion. Barton was the last to enter, taking the driver's seat after a few gunshots echoed in the area. We careened down the corridors, followed by several SHIELD vehicles. 

Somehow, agent Hill got in front of us, slamming into us with her own jeep, trying to prevent our escape. Unfortunately, Barton was a skilled driver, and evaded Hill’s Jeep. Her vehicle was spun around, and we left it in the dust. 

We burst out of the compound’s entrance just as the corridor behind us collapsed upon itself, leaving us no one to run from. That is, until Fury’s helicopter showed up. I expected to be shot down by my own, which was rather saddening, but a blue burst of energy flew up from behind the cab, and struck the helicopter. With the chopper careening out of control, I was only able to see one figure leap from the whirlybird before it came crashing down to the ground. A few shots were fired at us, but none met their mark. My Bluetooth fizzled in my ear, signaling that my radio was out of range. I had no way to contact anyone within SHIELD. I yanked it out and threw it on the floor of the vehicle, silent tears streaming down my face.

I was officially alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Not long after we had entered the forest surrounding the facility, Loki had Clint stop so he could get into the cab of the vehicle. He slid into the seat next to mine, resting the end of his scepter on the car’s floor. As we began moving again, he sighed quietly, and slowly began to relax a bit more. His shoulders released their tension gradually, and his head lowered to face the floor. He seemed to almost shudder at times.   
Despite my dire situation, I could not help but be curious about the newcomer. Why had he come? How had he come? Would he be able to face the combined force of Iron Man, Captain America, and the others that were slowly coming under the unified banner of the Avengers initiative? He seemed to be under a great deal of emotional stress in addition to physical ache, but he was not being open enough about it for me to get a good idea of what exactly he was feeling. 

The drive was spent in complete silence, only the whirring of the wheels and humming of the tesseract and scepter to pass the time. Occasionally, Loki would look over towards me, and I was careful to make sure that I kept my gaze straightforward or surveying our dark surroundings as Barton and Selvig were. My heart pounded in my chest every time his eyes passed over me, I prayed that he would not realize I was not turned and decide to kill me. He eventually seemed to settle on gazing out the window into the night, giving me the freedom to make quick glances over to him, observing his now very calm demeanor. A weight seemed to have lifted from his shoulders, if only slightly.

We were transported to another underground facility, though I was not told where in the world this facility was. I was set up to help Dr. Selvig with whatever he needed, but he barely ever asked for anything, instead mumbling to himself and tinkering with the equipment. I just stood outside the contained area he worked in, waiting for something else to happen. I was stationed in the lab, but Loki would occasionally be walking around, checking up on various things. I didn’t know how long it had been since our initial extraction, and I saw no real way of finding out. None of the nameless lackeys would speak with me, and Dr. Selvig was too enthralled with his work with the Tesseract to even acknowledge my existence. I began to wonder if I would ever see my brother again. If he had even survived the compound implosion. I shuddered, suddenly feeling cooler, my skin longing for the touch of the sun once more. 

Everywhere that I could see in the facility was windowless, mostly full of miscellaneous shelving and other things, but Loki had a small area kept clear not too far from the tesseract, the bare floor an odd sight among all of the boxes and humming machinery.

Loki walked by, glancing up at me as he strode past, the scepter firmly in his grasp. He seemed to have regained a bit of color, the circles under his eyes lessened. His eyes broke away from my own, and he walked into the space, kneeling on the bare floor. The golden staff pulsed with an energy, and I found my head beginning to ache heavily with every pulsation. My vision flickered, my balance thrown off, forcing me to lean against a wall to prevent myself from falling over.

Loki seemed to inhale, and as he did, my surroundings changed entirely. I was sucked from the laboratory into a strange, rocky place, surrounded by stars. I nervously knelt down, trying to remain hidden behind an outcropping of rock. Loki still knelt, not far from me, but a second version of Loki appeared in front of him, with a helm on and a green cape flowing off of his shoulders. The projection spoke with what I could only call an alien of some kind.

“You still resist our control, you still refuse to let us use you as our true vessel.” the alien said, its words hissing and sharp. “The Chitauri grow restless. Why do you not take charge, and destroy that world with the tesseract, that we might come collect the Titan’s bounty?”

“I do not wish to destroy that which I have been given to rule.” Loki’s copy answered. “If this world is to be recompense for my efforts, why would I burn it down to gain it? That would make ruling it worth naught. The king of all the fires in the world is still left with only ashes in the end.”

“You know the terms of the agreement we made upon your arrival here.” the Chitauri growled, approaching the copy of Loki. “We agreed to send you to earth, only so long as you captured for us the tesseract and vanquished the humans in the process. Your only benefit from our agreement was walking away with your life.”

“I was a king!” Loki’s projection shouted, “I deserve to rule!”

“You deserve nothing!" the Chitauri hissed, “You trespassed upon our domain, falling from the sky. You live on for the sole purpose of carrying out our plan to recover the tesseract for the Titan. If you stray from this agreement, resist our control, try to escape us, we will come for you, and you will wish you could die as easily as the humans you control.”

“Is there no other way to gain earth?” Loki said, almost sadly. “Must I wipe out all but those weak minded enough to follow? Surely they might be of some use even to you. Must there be such destruction of the land that the tesseract lies within?”

“This path you have chosen already stretches thin the bounds of our agreement.” the Chitauri answered, “You must destroy the group called the Avengers, and then we will collect what is ours. If you fail to kill them, if you fail to wipe out the resistant forces of the pathetic humans, we can assure you that your death will be long and painful. As will that of your brother.” The alien spat at Loki, growling.

“Very well.” the Loki copy said, bowing his head slightly. “I will do as you ask. I only need a few days’ time.” 

The projection turned as if to leave, but then said over his shoulder. “We will meet again, and we will speak of these things. Perhaps then you will come to see my reasoning. If not...” he trailed off, smirking slightly as he stepped away. 

The real Loki sighed heavily, letting his shoulders relax and his head lower, and the vision melted away immediately. Loki still knelt, now gasping slightly for air as if he had exerted a great amount of energy. A sheen was on his face, something that I could only assume was sweat. I scrambled to stand upright once more as he grumbled something that I could not hear, and then turned and marched away, leaving my sight. 

I stood in shock, momentarily unaware that Dr. Selvig was calling my name for the first time since Loki’s arrival. I turned and fumbled around until I was able to hand him what he needed, all the while thinking of what I had just witnessed. Loki surely was unaware that I had seen what had just transpired. He gave no indication that he had purposely allowed me to see it, and he also did not show any sign that he knew that I was there. Did everyone see it, or was it just myself? I couldn’t imagine Erik would be so calm and collected still if he had seen what I had witnessed. At the same time, what would be Loki’s purpose be in allowing me to see that?

For another thing, how on earth had I witnessed that? Was it simply an illusion created by Loki to fool all of us working here? That seemed rather unnecessary, with everyone but myself being under Loki’s complete control. As far as he knew, I was one of the mindless followers. If what had happened was purely accident, but all was true, what could I do with this new information? Was there a way to get the information to my brother, to Director Fury? The whole interaction made it seem like this whole idea to take the tesseract was not Loki’s idea, that he didn’t want to take over the earth, at least not by killing. It had to be an illusion. Why would he allow some to work under him, and allow others to die in the wreckage?

“Are you alright, Y/N?” Dr. Selvig asked. I smiled slightly. Even when he was under the scepter’s influence, he stubbornly refused to call me by my last name. Probably because it would get me confused with my brother.

I smiled at the Dr. “Yes, I’m fine. Just spacing out a little, Erik.”

“Alright. Come here, help me set up these tubes so I can begin narrowing down the search for a compound that I need.” he gestured to a shelf that had several chemist’s tubes and other scientific equipment. “I’ll set up the computer to simulate situations and look for the correct compound as well, I need to see what I can find here on earth that will create antiprotons.” 

“Antiprotons? What would you need that for?” I asked, setting up the chemist’s tubes that he required.

“The cube creates a massive amount of unstable energy; it fluctuates so much that any portal opened will not remain open for long.” Erik said. “The antiprotons will help to stabilize the energy fluctuations, and in turn will enable the portal to remain open for an indefinite amount of time. If done properly, the portal would stay open until manually closed.”

“Where does this portal open to?” I asked Erik, “Do you know?”

“I can’t say that I do, but-”

“It opens to another realm.” Loki said, startling both Dr. Selvig and myself. “A place undetectable by your mortal instruments. It is from here that my army will rise to take hold of this earth.”

I simply nodded, hoping that I had not betrayed myself by asking too many questions.

“This world will kneel before me.” Loki said, “And you the few, my faithful followers, will revel in all the glory at my side.” he smiled briefly, glancing towards myself. 

Turning to Dr. Selvig, he added, “How much longer until you know what we need?”

“It shouldn’t be too long.” Selvig explained, “We simply have to run simulations with all of the elements we know of and see which one will work for us. I can foresee us having the answer by either tomorrow, or the day after.”

“Very good, Doctor.” Loki said, grinning. “Though I hope it is the former. Simply tell me when you have discovered what you need. I will see to it that whatever you need will be acquired as quickly as possible.”

Dr. Selvig nodded, smiling gleefully as he returned to his simulations, pouring unknown substances in the tubes I had prepared. 

“You, Coulson’s sister.” Loki said, pointing to me. 

I internally balked, how did he know that? I stepped forward in obedience, not wishing to blow my cover. “Yes, sir?”

“Come with me.” he said, a chill coursing through my body. “I need to speak with you.” 

I simply nodded, following Loki out and away from the tesseract. I hoped and prayed that he had his staff with him, but it did not appear that he did. If he stayed close to the tesseract, my cover would remain intact, but with a few more feet, I would be discovered.

“I wanted to speak with you about why you are here.”

“Sir?” I asked, feigning bewilderment, “I’m here to help you, what else would I be here for?”

I stopped at the edge of my safe zone. Ice flowed through my veins and my heart began to beat faster and faster. One more step and my eyes would no longer glow blue as everyone else’s.

“Is there a problem?” Loki asked, eyebrow raising. He almost seemed bemused.

“I don’t want to leave my post, sir.” I answered quickly. “I have your orders to assist Dr. Selvig with his research.”

“You don’t have to stay there. I’m the one telling you to leave.” he said. Stepping much closer than I ever would have expected, he whispered into my ear. “And I know that you are here of your own will, not mine. So let’s just drop the facade, shall we?”


	3. Chapter 3

My mind went blank, my mouth dry. “Why?” I asked quietly. “Why? If you know I’m not under your control, why did you let me live?”

He gestured forward, moving me to follow him once more as he walked. “I was curious.” he said coolly, “At first I really did think that you had been changed, with your eyes glowing. However, after a time, I realized that I had not touched the staff to your heart. There was no way that you had been forced to follow me. You came with, for reasons I have yet to discover.”

“I was scared, sir.” I whispered. Forcing myself to swallow the lump in my throat and speak with normal volume, I added, “You did just simply appear out of nowhere. Then you started killing almost everyone I worked with.”

He seemed to wince at the words, but then recovered his usual impassive face. “I did what was necessary. Your world will bow before me, and an illustration of will was needed. However, all of that still does not explain why you do not try to escape, why you work willingly.”

“I suppose I’m curious about you as well, sir. Given the circumstance of your appearance here.” I said, feeling more and more awkward the more we walked. I pushed my glasses back up onto their normal space on my nose, my downward cast face causing them to continually slide down.

I was certain that my eyes no longer glowed, and I worried that he would stop trusting me and decide to kill me. It would not be hard for him to do. If he was from Asgard like Thor was, he was much stronger than any human, not to mention faster. 

“I now have a feeling that your intentions perhaps were not for things to work out as they have. I don’t know details, and I’m not sure that I want them, but I’m curious as to how this will work out, and I don’t want to hinder someone if they are going to be working for everyone’s good in the end.” I was surprised at my own words but smiled a little. “I believe in second chances, should someone decide that they want to prove themselves.”

“Perhaps your curiosity will pay off for the both of us.” Loki purposed, seemingly ignoring the latter part of my statement. “While we wait for Dr. Selvig to find what I need, I intend to find out why your eyes glow as the others do, but only when close to the tesseract.”

“So I don’t have to die?” I blurted out, quickly slapping a hand across my own mouth as soon as the words left my lips. 

“Not by my hand.” Loki retorted with a smile. “Come with me, I will see what I can find about the strange condition of your eyes.”

As we walked in a new direction, my mind raced into overdrive about the implication of his sentence. What did he mean by ‘not by my hand’? Was there something that I was missing? Perhaps he thought that SHIELD would try to kill me now that I had been serving under him. I was fairly confident that wouldn’t happen. A small part of me was scared that it could happen, that SHIELD would dismiss any possible explanation and declare me a threat to the security that I once worked towards, but surely my brother would be able to convince them otherwise?

We arrived in a hall that was very wide, the lights changing from old and yellowed to fluorescent and white. Loki’s raven black hair shone, his blue-green eyes shifting left and right as a few personnel worked silently at their stations to the sides of the hall. Opening a door, he allowed me into the new room first, and entered as well, closing the door behind himself.

It was a small room, furnished with a few simple things. An end table next to a leather sofa, a chair next to a small bookshelf. There was a large rug spread across the floor, green with gold embroidery, celtic knots and patterns in gold weaving, and the pillows on the chair and sofa matched the rug subtly. 

“Please, sit.” Loki said, “Anywhere you wish. I need to sit and meditate over this matter. First, I need to know exactly how and when your...condition began.”

I sat in the chair, and recanted to him all that had happened, without giving away any information that might compromise SHIELD. He sat down on the sofa opposite me, and listened with intent. He remained perfectly fixated on my words, nodding occasionally as his eyes bored holes into my own. When I had finished my story, he rubbed his chin and bottom lip, sighing. 

“Now I must meditate, and pool my resources to find answers. If you wish to read something, there are some books over there that you might find an interest in.” He gestured to the bookshelf, and then lay down on the sofa.   
I leaned over, absently pulling a book from the shelf. I didn’t even really pay attention to what the book was about, instead observing Loki laying on the sofa. His eyes were shut, though I could somehow tell that he wasn’t asleep. He lay flat on his back, with his hands clasped on his torso, his head resting on a cushion. His skin had regained some color since he came through the portal, and he seemed to be less gaunt as well. Perhaps it was just the lighting, but it seemed that though he had been sickly and pale when he had arrived here, and now he seemed healthier and slightly happier. Every so often his face would shift, his breathing pattern changing slightly.   
I looked around the small room, searching for the scepter, or anything else worthy of note. My search was met only with the cool surface of finished concrete, and the rough textures of the cracked concrete underfoot. My eyes returned to the Asgardian once more, noting the intricacies in detail on his armor, the expertly crafted leather complimenting his lithe frame. The cool light in the room cast crisp shadows across his face, accenting his cheekbones and lips as they subtly shifted while he meditated. 

After a while, Loki’s lips spread in a grin, then shortly after his eyes opened. He sat up, smile still spread across his face, his eyes dancing with excitement. 

“I think I know what has happened to you.” he said confidently. “But it may take some risk to undo.”

I closed the book, nodding and sitting upright once more. “What is it?”

“I believe that you have absorbed some of the tesseract’s energy. You cannot use it on your own, and it is there simply to preserve and protect the tesseract.” He sighed, “The cube will work, the portal will open and sustain itself, but it cannot be destroyed until the energy from you is pulled back to the tesseract.”

“Alright,” I said, “But why would my eyes glow when I’m close to the tesseract, and not any other time? And why do my eyes glow around your scepter?”

“The nearest that I can figure is that when you are close to the tesseract, your eyes glow to show that the energy is close to its original home.” He said. He then waved his hands, the scepter appearing in mid-air for him to grab. ”As for my scepter, I can only guess that it has the same kind of energy that the tesseract does.”

An uncomfortable amount of silence passed as we both looked at the scepter.

“What are you going to do with me?” I asked. 

“For now? Nothing. I do not yet know to safely withdraw the power from you without harming you or the tesseract.” Loki said, standing. “For now, you will return to helping Dr. Selvig in his lab.”

“Yes sir.” I said, turning to leave.

“Oh, and Y/N?”

“Yes?” I asked slowly, still unsure of how he knew my name.

“Do your glasses give you the ability to read books while they are upside-down?” he said, holding the volume that I had been ‘reading’ aloft, a smirk spreading across his face.

I blushed, adjusting my glasses, and wishing that I could just melt into the ground. Maybe that was a “power” the tesseract energy could give me. I turned and exited the room before I could turn any redder, marching back to Dr. Selvig as quickly as I could. I took a few wrong turns, but the brainwashed personnel would blankly point me in the right direction when I asked. 

Dr. Selvig did not even seem to have noticed my absence. He was too busy running his simulations and laughing to himself. I silently helped run the simulations, trying to make sense of what had happened, and what would happen to me. I took my glasses off. Though I was almost blind without them, my eyes felt less stressed with the lenses off my face.

If Loki was correct in his theory, and I had absorbed some of the tesseract’s energy, what would happen to me if it remained within me for a prolonged amount of time? How would this energy be taken out of me without injuring me? I assumed that Loki did not wish to hurt me, given that he refused to try anything until he knew it would work. That was another abnormality to a seemingly evil plot to take over earth. You would think a person bent on domination would have no qualms about killing one person to get what they wanted. 

Yet here he was, waiting, possibly risking his plan, his own safety it seemed, to make sure I would be safe. It made no sense, but since when did anything with the Tesseract make any sense? It wasn’t as if space aliens used portals to enter earth every day. If they did, I hadn’t been placed in the proper division of SHEILD to be aware of it. 

The workday drew slowly to a close. I decided to rest in one of the cots placed in the tesseract workspace, and Dr. Selvig insisted on working through the night. My sleep was fitful and unrestful, I tossed and turned on the rickety cot all night. My mind was plagued with thoughts and wonderings about Loki. I was sure that he was bent on ruling the earth, and would do anything that it took to have what he wanted, what he felt was supposed to be his. But there was an ever-present part of me that insisted that this was not the route he wished to have taken. This was not the means he wanted his end to justify. My mind continued in this endless circle, preventing me from sleeping at all eventually. I woke in the wee hours of the morning to find Dr. Selvig passed out, half-laying on his work station. 

Sighing, I dragged Dr. Selvig as best I could to the cot, resting the snoring man down so his body would not ache the next morning. I continued running the simulations, wondering if anything on this earth would be what Dr. Selvig needed. Deciding that the simulations did not need my constant attention, I walked around the work station, looking at the different research papers displayed on the various monitors, and inspecting the various tools laying on the counters. 

When I returned to glance at the simulations, I was appalled to realize how few simulations had actually completed. I took my glasses off again, sighing. I didn’t remember everything from my high-school chemistry class, but I was fairly certain that there were more than ten elements in the periodic table…

“Up early, aren’t we?” A smooth voice said, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Yes, sir.” I stuttered, nodding briefly at Loki, “Dr. Selvig fell asleep during his work, so I decided that it was my turn to stay up and monitor simulations.”

“I see.” Loki said. After a long pause, where he looked at me and I awkwardly stared back, he added, “I still do not see why you do not try to run.”

“I don’t see a point to trying.” I shrugged, hoping I was still looking at him. I could barely see anything. “After all, you said you would not hurt me, and you haven’t broken that so far. Why would I try to run, why would I risk getting myself killed?”

“You perplex me.” He muttered quietly, but soon put on his usual sly smile. “How are the simulations running?”

“So far nothing is working, but the simulator has only run through about twelve of the elements.” I sighed, as the computer wheezed in apparent agreement.

“Alright then, thank you for the progress report.” he said, turning to leave, but then glancing back at me. “The simulations will be fine by themselves. You may walk with me, if you wish.”

“Alright, sir.” I said, “What exactly did you want to talk about?”

“It’s not that I necessarily wanted to talk. but I actually do have something to tell you.” Loki said, “Don’t forget your glasses, wouldn’t want you to run into a wall.” he added, chuckling, and flashing what I was beginning to think of as his trademark grin. 

I blushed a small amount, grabbing my glasses and following him out of the tesseract station. Walking at first in silence, my mind was silently trying to work out why he would suggest that he would walk with me just to walk, without speaking to me at all. He broke the silence before I could make sense of his statement.

“My thoughts for you are twofold.” he said, “The first, and probably most important, is that though I am still not yet sure how to withdraw the tesseract’s energy from you, is that keeping the energy within you will not harm you in any way. Once the portal is opened, however, we should not try to remove it until the portal is shut. If we try to extract while the portal is opened, there is a chance that the shock will kill you. The energy in you will react to the portal being opened, and your body might not be able to handle the increased amount of energy being removed. I shall have to take extra precaution to remove the energy from you before the portal is opened.” 

I nodded slowly, praying that this resolution of his would hold.

“The second thing,” He said, “Is this.”


	4. Chapter 4

Loki stopped walking and stood in front of me. He reached up and slid my glasses off of my face. I took a shaky breath, my shoulders tensing slightly, closing my eyes, and awaiting pain. A pregnant pause passed, and I could feel his hands on my shoulders.   
“Open your eyes, Y/N.” Loki murmured.   
I slowly opened my eyes, prepared for the blurry haze that was my vision.   
Was.   
As my eyes adjusted to the lighting, I could see everything clearly, like I was wearing my glasses. Only my glasses were still in Loki’s hand. He smiled, and I walked around like a child seeing the world for the first time. I almost forgot that I was in the presence of someone that was considered a dangerous god.   
“Oh my gosh..” I kept saying over and over again, “Oh my gosh..”  
He laughed quietly behind me, and I was brought back down to earth.   
“Thank you so much, sir.” I said, “I really don’t know what to say.”  
“You don’t have to.” he said, handing me back my glasses. “And you may call me Loki.”  
“Thank you, Loki.” I said softly, almost ready to cry.  
“It was no trouble at all.” he answered just as softly, smiling.  
Suddenly, my vision flickered as it had preceding the strange vision I had the day before, this time accompanied by a piercing headache. I gave no external indication that I was feeling weird, but inside I was freaking out again. This time, Loki was not kneeling at all, or looking like he was going to do anything out of the ordinary.  
Loki didn’t seem to notice me, but said that it was best we begin walking back to my post. I agreed, as my vision kicked in and out, making me nervous. I stumbled more than a few times as we walked back to the lab area, a combination of my newfound vision and that same vision flickering every so often. When we had arrived at the station, I stood outside the enclosed area. Loki nodded to me, and walked away towards the cleared area. As he walked, the scepter shimmered into existence in his hand. This time, instead of kneeling in the area, he sat cross-legged, the scepter glowing more than normal.   
He relaxed his shoulders and took a deep breath. Again, I was sucked into space with him, perhaps with him unaware yet again. I crouched to conceal myself behind rocks yet again, the copy of Loki appeared before the real one, cape flowing in a non-existent breeze.   
“And so you finally answer our calling.” The strange alien said, pacing behind a rock formation.  
“My sincerest apologies, I was distracted.” Loki answered, matching the alien’s pacing.  
“Distractions are not a good thing for our guide to have.” the alien said, “When will we be able to send our forces to retrieve the tesseract? Have you yet destroyed the earth’s forces?”  
“Let the Chitauri gird themselves.” projection Loki said, “I will lead them into glorious battle.”  
“Battle? Against the meager might of Earth?” the other said, seemingly offended at the proposition.  
“Glorious, not lengthy. If your force is as-” Loki paused for a moment. “-formidable as you claim.”  
“You dare question us? You question HIM? He, who put the scepter in your hand, who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?” the other said in disbelief.  
“I was a king, the rightful king of Asgard! Betrayed!” Loki said indignantly, raising his voice.  
“Your ambition is little, born of childish need.” The other hissed, “We look beyond the Earth to greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil.”  
“You don't have the Tesseract yet. I don't threaten, but until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words.” Loki said, his tone threatening despite his words. “You will know when your armies may descend to lay claim to this world.”  
“You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you.” the other said, walking closer to Loki’s copy. Standing behind it, the other slowly put his hand up to Loki’s face, then added threat of his own, “You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain!”  
With those words, Loki wrenched his head away from the contact, breaking the vision and returning everything back to normal. My face tingled as if it had been the one in contact with the alien, and my breath came in sporadic gasps. My headache vanished, and I stumbled a little, but recovered myself in time to witness Loki rising quickly, gritting his teeth through his sweat and muttering unintelligible things.   
“Y/N,” Loki breathed, “Come with me, please”   
He walked away, leaving me to sprint to catch up with his long strides.

“I have officially run out of time.” he muttered as we walked back to his room, “I need your help, Y/N. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Is it the Chitauri?” I asked quietly, shutting the door behind us as we entered his room.  
He stared at me, taken aback by my words. “How did you know of that?”  
“When you’ve met with them, I’ve also been privy to what was going on. I thought you were aware of my presence.” I said, “These past two times, when you’ve talked to them about how you are going to retrieve the Tesseract for them, I’ve been able to both see and hear the entire conversation.”  
Loki stood silent for a moment, seemingly unsure of how to proceed with the conversation, given that I knew what he was going to tell me.

“Then you know that I can no longer stall for time. If I do not move soon, even if it is a fruitless effort, I will be killed. Even you-...” he gulped, then whispered, “Thor… would be killed. They showed me a brief glimpse of what they plan to do to those I care about, and if they survive the initial invasion, it will be horrendous.” he shuddered, beginning to pace about the small room.  
“Then, how do we fix it?” I asked, slumping onto the sofa as he continued to pace around. “If they are manipulating you by threatening both yourself, and your brother, how do you begin to back out?”  
“Not only are they threatening, they have figured out how to literally control my actions in short bursts.” He muttered, “They want the tesseract. They want to fight earth for it. I don’t know how to fight back when they’ll just take me over if I do the wrong thing.”  
“Then don’t fight.” I said, slowly rising from my seat, “Do what they want. But do it in a way that you know they will fail. Set them up for their own destruction.”

“I like the sound of that.” he said, “I could concentrate their forces where they would face the most opposition. Where would that be?”  
“Stark tower!” I exclaimed, “Everyone would see something like that happening in the middle of New York, I have access to the tower, and Fury’s sure to have the Avengers initiative started by now.” 

“Do you think they could defeat the Chitauri and close the Tesseract Portal in time?” He breathed, “After the energy has been removed from you?”  
“If they can’t, there’s no one else that can.” I said, “It’s our only shot.”   
“Then let us not discard it.” he said, “I can begin removing the energy as best I can now. Let’s head back to the Tesseract to start the process.”  
He opened the door, and we both filed through and began making our way back to the Tesseract. I shook nervously as I walked. This could be the only way to save earth, but it also could end horribly. The energy extraction alone was risky, but if it meant saving millions...  
“IRIDIUM!” yelled Dr. Selvig from in the lab, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. “That’s what we need! Some Iridium! It’s perfect!”  
I ran up to the lab ahead of Loki, confirming on the screens that Erik had indeed found a match. After Dr. Selvig had babbled on for a while, Barton appeared for the first time since we had left SHIELD’s base, with armed strangers in tow.  
“Where did you find these people?” Selvig asked Barton.   
“SHIELD had no shortage of enemies.” Barton said. “Is this what you need?” he asked, holding up a tablet with a photograph of the substance.  
“Yes, Iridium. It’ll create the antiprotons I need to stabilize the portal.” Dr. Selvig said.   
Loki strode up, his countenance recovered, and passive tone returned.  
Dr. Selvig brightened up at Loki’s appearance. “The Tesseract is showing me so much. It's more than just knowledge, it's... truth.” the scientist said, smiling.  
“I know, it shows each of us something different.” Loki said, glancing at me, then turning to Barton. “What did it show you, Agent Barton?”  
“My next target.” the archer said.  
“Tell me what you need.” Loki said, following Barton to another station.  
“I'll need a distraction.” Barton said, grabbing his bow out of its case and snapping it into place with a flick of his arm. “And an eyeball.”  
“Very well.” Loki said, then turned to myself and Dr. Selvig. “Assemble a team of people and load this into the trailer. When Barton returns with the item you need, drive to Stark Tower in New York. Do NOT activate the portal until I return and tell you to.” he ordered, directly to Erik.  
Dr. Selvig nodded like a madman, smiling and almost giggling. I nodded, turning to help begin pack Dr. Selvig’s things up.   
“Miss Y/N.” Loki said, standing away from the bustle of what was going on.   
“Yes?” I said walking up to him.  
“The tesseract’s influence on Dr. Selvig is unpredictable. Keep a wary eye that he does not activate the portal before the energy has been removed from you.” Loki said.   
I nodded, acknowledging, and agreeing with his statement. “I’ll make sure that nothing is done until you return. Where are you going?”   
Loki continued to stare at me, some unknown feeling crossing his face and saturating his eyes. “Barton needs a distraction, and so a distraction I shall become.” He said, then lowering his voice. “Do be careful, Y/N.” He pressed his lips to my forehead, then he turned to leave, saying under his breath, “I do not wish to lose you.” With that, he suddenly disappeared into thin air.  
“Yes, Loki.” I said, confusion settling across my face, as a warm tingle spread across my body from my forehead to the tips of my toes.  
I didn't know what to make of Loki's statement, my own emotions and thoughts clouding my thoughts. I continued packing down the station, delicate equipment creating a very long and complicated tear-down process.   
Taking apart and moving the equipment gave my hands something to do whilst my brain tried to sort out my thoughts and emotions. Loki was not at all a bad looking man, in fact I found him quite handsome despite his moral dilemma. Was that the reason that I sympathized for him? I wanted to deny it, but part of me knew that though it wasn’t the whole reason, it wasn’t irrelevant either. The main reason that I could find was that I had access to information that proved that this wasn’t entirely his idea. Granted, he did want to rule the earth, or at least rule something, but he did not originally intend to make war with earth to gain power.   
I found myself hoping that Loki wouldn’t get captured by SHIELD when he was out helping Barton. I had no idea what SHIELD planned on doing to him, but I didn’t want anything to hurt him. The security guard training I had been brought to know kicked in, criticizing me for sympathizing with a threat to national, even global security. I shoved those thoughts down, I might be biased, but I was right. If given the chance, I was sure Loki could prove himself. The threat of the Chitauri killing him and his brother was driving him to this madness.   
A side thought entered my brain, wondering if the scepter the Chitauri had given to him was not only able to influence those he wanted to serve him, but him as well. He always seemed to have it available to him, even if it was through his magic. Perhaps the scepter was under the Chitari’s control, enabling them to control it’s wielder partially, though not completely. While restarting the computers inside the semi, I came to my final decision. Loki was far from sinless, but I would do what I could to help him come to a place where he could change. I had moved from simple sympathizer, to something more. I didn’t love him, though my heart told me that wouldn’t take long if he did change. For now, I told myself that I just didn’t want him hurt.   
It took hours to completely disassemble the equipment, and hours more to set it up within the confines of a semi trailer. I began to wonder if perhaps Barton would be back with the element before we were ready to implement it.  
Confirming my suspicions, Barton strode in with a small case, handing it to Dr. Selvig.   
“Here you are, Selvig.” Baron said in a monotone, “The element you wanted.”  
I expected Loki to reappear at any moment, perhaps try to startle me. But after thirty minutes, I still hadn’t seen a sign of the Asgardian.   
Barton seemed to be gathering the few security guards Loki had taken from SHIELD, speaking to them in hushed tones.  
“Where is Loki, Barton?” I asked, wondering if perhaps Loki awaited us in New York.  
“The Cap and Iron Man captured him.” Barton said, confirming my fears. My stomach sank. If he was in captivity, there would be no way for him to remove the energy from me so we could open the portal.  
“Oh.” I simply said, trying to betray no emotion. “What are we going to do?”  
“I am taking a team to go get him.” Barton said, “You are staying with Dr. Selvig and driving to Stark Tower as previously ordered.” Barton finished, stressing that there was no ‘we’ in this equation.  
“Yes, sir.” I said. “Right away.”  
Barton simply nodded in response, and turned to leave with his team. As I finished putting the last few things into the trailer, Dr. Selvig examined the element with glee. He set about shaping it to fit where he planned, using a strange chemical compound and a heated tube, a process I didn’t want to try to understand. The back of the trailer was closed, Dr. Selvig and I working in the back. The trailer rocked slightly as the semi pulled us away to New York.   
So it begins.


	5. Chapter 5

I wasn’t sure how long it would take us to get to New York. All I knew was that it was too long. I prayed that Barton would be able to safely extract Loki, and bring him to Stark Tower without problem. But I had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t going to get pulled off flawlessly.  
We had been in the trailer, and Dr. Selvig had just placed the new element into the tesseract’s portal device, when my vision flickered. This time, it was like I was watching a projection upon my surroundings, a hologram. The piercing headache returned, and a raspy voice filled my head, making me try to scream. No sound exited my body, and I was left with voiceless cries. I saw my brother in front of me, talking to Loki and holding a strange gun. The voice screamed that now was the time, to kill Coulson by stabbing him in the heart with the scepter. My heart leapt to my throat as I realized that the voice was not just speaking to me, but to the real Loki, who held the scepter behind my brother.  
I tried to cry out in warning, but my voice was silent. No one could see me, and I watched Loki struggle with what he was being told. I tried to call out again, and I saw Loki wince slightly, taking a staggering step backwards. His copy continued in dialogue with my brother, though I could hear not what they were saying. The raspy voice echoed in my mind once again, causing me to drop to my knees in pain. The voice was not only repugnant to hear, but every time it spoke, my brain felt as if it was being rolled in white-hot spikes.   
I heard another voice, this one far more familiar. “No..” Loki said weakly, “Not him… He is.. too important.”  
“Not to anyone that matters.” the voice hissed, the pain causing my stomach to turn. “She is only a carrier for the Tesseract’s power, and she will soon be discarded as such.”  
My head throbbed with every heartbeat, and despite the excruciating pain that he must have also been feeling, Loki did not harm my brother. His copy instead was made to press a button on a console, releasing a large glass room to fall from its place, hurtling down. I heard Thor yelling distantly in the background, as Loki was yelled at by the strange voice.   
“NO! YOU were to leave him there and let the monster destroy him! HOW DARE YOU RELEASE-”   
A sudden blast of heat enveloped my body, and it felt as if I had been thrown up against a wall. As the vision faded, and my headache ebbed away, I heard quiet echoes from the strange voice, and a phrase repeated over and over again in my brother's voice.   
"You lack conviction..."  
My brother must have finally fired on Loki, cutting our connection. I hoped that Loki was able to leave, instead of giving in to the hissing voice. I shuddered at the thought, Dr. Selvig shooting me a concerned look before continuing his adjustments and fine-tunings. I would give anything just for slight reassurance that Phil was ok. My theory of Loki being controlled had now been confirmed, but at what cost? I didn’t know if my brother was going to be alright, and it seemed as if the Chitauri were having a field day with the Avengers.  
I looked up at Erik. He still stood, tinkering with the machinery, blissfully unaware of the uncertainty that I was trying to process. My head began to dully ache again, and while my vision did not change, I heard a voice.  
“Y/N. Can you hear me?” Loki said quietly.  
“Yes, I can.” I responded in a small voice, fearing what he wanted to speak about. “Is everything ok? I saw some of what was going on, but it cut out when you were thrown against a wall.”  
“Y/N I’m so sorry, I- I have some horrible news to tell you.” Loki whispered, his voice cracking.

“Oh no.” I whispered, tears beginning to stream down my cheeks. “My brother… You did it, didn’t you?”

“I defied what they wanted, but I did not succeed in keeping him unharmed.” he said, his voice betraying his shame. “Though I did not kill him as they told me to, I am not sure if he remained safe after I left. Barton never returned, and I know there were several explosions.”

“I- I don’t know what to say.” I breathed, tears continuing to fall. “I believe you though. I saw and heard some of your thoughts before the connection stopped. I even heard the Chitauri.” I shuddered, wiping tears away, “It was excruciatingly painful, but I understand a bit of why you are doing what you do. Why you need help to stop it. I..I understand.”  
Suddenly, the trailer stopped, and the doors were thrown open, yanking me from my conversation with Loki.   
After helping open Stark Tower for Dr. Selvig, I sat alone for a moment in the trailer, my mind still reeling. I tried reaching out to Loki as he had apparently done with me, but my efforts were fruitless. I was jarred from my thoughts by Erik yelling at me to help him carry something up to the roof. I used my clearance code to open the elevator in Stark Tower, and I helped Dr. Selvig set things up on the roof of Stark Tower in a daze. Assembling all of this dangerous equipment probably wasn't the best idea in my current state, but it was the best thing for me to do. Some menial labor would take my mind off of what I had learned.  
It took a bit of time, but soon it had been assembled and Dr. Selvig was completing the fine tunings needed to accept Stark Tower’s energy source. I clarified with Erik that he needed to wait for Loki to start the machine, then I turned to look at the skyline, scanning for any signs of Loki, or the Avengers. No trace of the heliplane was anywhere to be found, and I began to fidget nervously. Suddenly, I heard a whirring, like a large machine starting up. My blood ran cold.  
I turned, and gasped, fear gripping my heart. Dr. Selvig had started the portal, and it was my negligence that was to blame. The tesseract glowed bright blue, a wave of heat blasting my face. I felt a strange humming course through my body, my veins felt as if fire flowed through them. I could only guess that it was the Tesseract energy my body had absorbed. I stumbled back, my mind a race of several emotions swirling, unwilling to be rational.  
My life was now on the line.  
Cursing myself for not paying closer attention like I had been asked to, I ran down a few flights of stairs to the observation balcony, scanning the horizon for the heliplane that I knew Barton had taken to the Helicarrier to set Loki free. Though I scoured the skyline for even the slightest trace of the vehicle, I saw no indication it was anywhere near New York. Suddenly, I heard his voice behind me.  
“Why has the portal been started?” His voice was saturated with worry, with what could have been regret lacing it.   
“I’m so sorry, this is all my fault. I’ve ruined everything.” I said, my emotions pouring out in my voice as I rambled on, “I looked for you in the skyline for just a moment, and by the time I had turned around, Dr. Selvig had started it, and now I’m scared because I don’t want to die, not that I wasn’t scared before, and now the plan to stop the Chituar-”  
He hushed me with a finger to my lips. “It is not your fault.” he said calmly, “I will find a way to make you safe before the portal is shut.” he promised, squeezing my hand in reassurance. “For now, I made sure that the portal cannot be closed by anyone save the one that holds the scepter, with help from Dr. Selvig. It will be a while before anyone comes through the portal, as it has not completely opened yet.”  
I nodded, holding back my tears of confusion and fear. “I’ll make sure that Dr. Selvig doesn’t do anything else reckless then.”   
“Very good. The Avengers race to meet me, and I can only hope that they do not try to destroy the portal.” Loki said, drawing in a deep breath and closing his eyes. “It is good to feel the sun once again after so long…”

“I’m glad that you find enjoyment in it.” I said, realizing that if he was the Chitauri’s prisoner, it was doubtful he was given any kind of freedom to be outside. The realization turned the tone of my voice somber. “Just keep that in your mind if they try to take control of you again. If we fail, I doubt things will stay this way very long.”  
“I- I don’t know what to say.” he added in a hushed tone, “Other than I am not entirely sure of what I would do without your words of support, your perceptiveness.”  
“It wasn’t exactly your idea, so I can give you the chance to prove yourself.” I said, my tears slowing. “As long as my brother turns out ok, I suppose it’s alright. I should go to watch Erik now...”  
“I’m so sorry, still. And yes, you probably should.” he said, clearing his throat, his voice still husky from emotion. He kissed my forehead again. “Thank you.” he murmured.  
“Don’t mention it.” I mumbled, turning to ascend stairs to the roof, my body humming again. Though I wasn’t sure if it was from the Tesseract, or Loki’s kiss.  
As I came to the top of the stairs, I saw Dr. Selvig with the portal machine for only a moment before I was blown back down them from the concussion of Iron Man trying to destroy the tesseract with a repulsor blast. When I had regained my footing and raced up the last flight again, Iron Man was floating down to the end of the observation balcony, and Dr. Selvig was unconscious next to the machine. I checked the Dr’s pulse to make sure that he was alright, and conforming it, I moved to watch what I could from the roof. Stark walked along the length of the balcony, pieces of his Iron Man suit being removed by robotic arms that had emerged from the balcony itself. 

Stark disappeared inside, and it was quiet for a while. A dull headache encroached on my mind, and the white-hot needle feeling was over almost as quickly as it had appeared. Suddenly, Stark came crashing through a window, free falling down with nothing between him and the rapidly approaching ground. A pod came flying out after him, extending itself to wrap around the billionaire, and creating what must have been the latest Iron Man suit. Was there no end to the unique ideas that man could think up?  
Iron Man shot a repulsor blast at the window he had fallen out of, probably aimed at Loki. I was unable to watch further, as I was then distracted by a loud noise coming from the sky above me, like a tearing. I looked up, to see what looked like a hole being ripped in the atmosphere, spreading to be hundreds of feet across. I could see distant stars, the color of the cosmos dulled sightly by the direct sunlight entering the portal from our world.   
The portal had opened, and the battle for New York had begun.


	6. Chapter 6

The Chitauri army descended from the portal to space, spreading out to wreak havoc upon the human world. Iron man flew up, taking out as many as he could as he ascended closer to the mouth of the portal. I looked down towards the balcony, and saw Loki walking on it, his helm and cape shimmering into existence as he walked to the edge.   
The Chitauri continued flowing from the portal, blocking my once clear view of the stars behind them. I cringed and stepped back, fearful of an enormous creature sliding through the wormhole, larger than most buildings even here in New York. It floated down, despite looking heavy enough to destroy an entire skyscraper if placed atop one. It seemed to have no means of propulsion, but it encroached upon the New York Skyline nonetheless.   
I heard thunder and saw lightning flash briefly around the tower, and realized that Thor must have arrived. Sure as the tide, Thor landed with a thud on the balcony that Loki paced. Loki was now wearing his helm and cape, the scepter grown into a full-length staff in his hands. Thor and Loki appeared to discuss something. Without any real warning that I could see, they started fighting right there on the balcony. The scepter went off, blowing a letter off of the building, sending it crashing to the ground below. A heliplane stopped by the balcony, ready to fire on them both before the scepter went off, damaging a turbine and sending it down to the ground. My head ached for a moment as the hissing, screeching voice returned. Thor stopped fighting, and I realized that he had been stabbed. “Sentiment.” The voice hissed, Loki’s own voice echoing the words to his brother. The voice stopped, and Loki stumbled back, giving Thor an opportunity to slam him to the ground. Loki rolled off the balcony onto a small alien speeder, careening out of view as Thor flew off towards a large Chuitari ship. My attention was grabbed by another enormous alien descending from the portal, groaning as earth’s gravity began affecting it.   
As I tried to locate Loki amongst the battle, a white-hot arc of lightning streaked from a skyscraper up to the portal, it’s power shoving another Chitauri up into the opening once more. Thor was holding on to the building, hammer held aloft as the electricity continued to surge into the portal.  
The battle dragged on for what was both an eternity and only a moment. Once I regained sight of Loki, he was speeding along on a chitauri vehicle of some sort. He seemed to catch something right next to his face, glancing behind him right before he was immediately blown from the sky, sending him hurtling down to land on the balcony once again. I only barely noticed the Hulk coming straight for Loki, when I was distracted by Agent Romanoff rolling down onto the roof next to the Tesseract, having dismounted another of the Chitauri vehicles. Selvig was groaning behind me and slowly coming to, and his eyes returned to their normal hue.

Natasha ran up to me, ready to strike until I raised my hands, yelling “I’m not under control, I’m me! Agent Coulson!” Natasha slowed, and I added “My eyes glow because I was hit with Tesseract energy!”  
“She’s telling the truth!” Erik shouted above the Tesseract’s hum, grunting as he stood up, “She is not under the scepter’s control. She was hit with Tesseract radiation before this whole mess even started.”  
“Ok then,” Natasha said, stopping in her tracks, then turning to the Dr, “How do we stop this? How do we close the portal? The Feds are planning on sending a nuke if we don’t do this now!”

“The only way is to have Loki close it with the scepter!” Erik said, “He’s the only one powerful enough to withstand the Tesseract’s fluctuations. And I doubt that he’ll be cooperative!”  
“No.” I said, then shouted to be heard above the machine, “No! I know how we can do it! I just need to get the scepter, and I know how!” 

“Are you sure?” Natasha answered, “I don’t know if I can let you do that alone, he’s already thrown Stark off the building, and you don’t have a suit to catch you!”

“Yes.” I answered, “Please, he trusts me. Let me do this!”  
“If you say so.” Natasha replied, “As long as you’re sure you don’t need backup.”  
“You can help me prepare the portal for closing!” Erik shouted to Natasha, who simply nodded.

“You’d better hurry.” she said, turning to help the Dr.  
I raced down the stairs, hoping that Loki would be willing to give me the scepter. He might not have been able to remove the energy from me, but the entirety of New York was now on the line, I didn’t matter anymore. As I stepped onto the floor that had the balcony, I was met with two massive craters in the cement flooring, one of which contained a stunned and groaning Loki.

“Oh my God, are you alright?” I asked, rushing over, and kneeling next to him.

“No need for calling me that,” he snickered, his face then flickering with pain, “I think so. I should have listened to Stark when he warned me about that beast.” he winced as he tried to sit up, instead opting to lay back down for a moment longer.

“Oh hush.” I said, blushing despite my words. “I need the scepter. The city is going to be destroyed if we don’t close the portal, and I need that scepter now! I need to get that portal closed, even if you can’t.” 

“I can’t let you do that!” he cried, but his glance to the side gave away the scepter’s resting place. “I was supposed to be the one to end it, to redeem my actions. The energy surge will surely kill you. I need you to survive, please.” he placed a hand on my shoulder, his eyes begging me to stay, to remain safe.  
“Try to stop me.” I said, kissing his forehead before snatching the scepter. Heat flooded through my cheeks as I ran past Loki and dashed back up the stairs, Loki hollering after me with a pain-laced voice. Warm energy crept up my arm as I held the scepter aloft, reaching the top of the stairs.  
“I’ve got it!” I said, rushing up to Natasha, “Erik, what do we do now?”  
“He actually let you take it?” Natasha said, taking the scepter from my hands, “Is he dead?”

“No, like I said, he trusts me.” I said, heat flushing to my cheeks again, “This whole mess is a lot more complicated than any of you know.”  
“We have to put the scepter into the force field that surrounds the Tesseract and touch the scepter to the Cube itself to close it.” Selvig finally answered, “The introduction of the scepter’s energy to the Tesseract will cause it to destabilize, and the portal should close.”  
“I’ll do it!” Natasha said, taking the scepter and placing the tip on the edge of the force field surrounding the Tesseract. The second that she applied pressure to pierce the barrier, the force field sparked, throwing the scepter out of Natasha’s hands and sending it skidding across the ground.

“I think I have to do it.” I said, picking up the scepter, energy creeping up my hand once more, my entire body reacting to the new power. “The Tesseract energy in me might help break the barrier.”

I placed the tip of the scepter against the barrier, and leaned into it, the scepter slowly entering the force field and pushing past the energy field. My veins coursed with flame, my eyes blinded by the concentration of power that flowed in me, though they were still open. The scepter was pushed back, but the more the pushback became, even stronger the energy in me surged. I could hear my pulse in my ears, the rushing of the blood drowning out almost all other sounds.   
“She’s going to die if we don’t hurry!” I faintly heard Selvig shout through the rushing in my ears, “Look at her eyes! They’re glowing white hot, she’ll at least lose her sight if we don’t stop!”

“I can close it. Can anybody copy?” Natasha said, “I can shut the portal down. Wait, Tony what? They already sent it? Stark you can’t do that! I- alright.”

Natasha sighed. “On my signal, touch the scepter to the Tesseract and close the portal. Stark is taking the nuke to them, and we’ll close the portal to keep the radiation in the middle of space.”

I nodded, steeling myself for what would be my end. Loki’s desperate voice resounded in my thoughts, begging me to stay, to survive. I wanted so desperately to give him what he wanted, to live long enough to see him redeem himself, the actions that had been forced upon him. Maybe, just maybe, I saw a future with his redeemed self. The sound of a distant siren brought me back to my decision. The knowledge that there were millions of innocent lives in danger, children that could die if I didn’t do something, was too great a responsibility to abandon.   
Natasha shouted, and I shoved the scepter into the tesseract, causing the Tesseract’s energy to immediately cease spraying into the sky, the portal’s opening beginning to close. The force field dissolved with a small explosion, throwing us all in different directions. My skin felt as if it was on fire, every fiber of muscle like it was tearing itself apart over and over again. I cried out in agony, the pain causing me to drop the scepter, writhing in pain. I begged silently for it to end, my voice empty and soundless. I slowly regained a slight amount of vision just in time to see a figure dropping from the sky where the portal once was.  
Selvig called Natasha to watch the figure fall, and I forced myself to move. My body still felt as if it was on fire, my head and muscles aching with every beat of my pulse. I dragged myself to the stairs, and the pain lessened as I began to move more. I was still unable to stand, instead crawling down to see if Loki was still recovering from the pounding that he had received.   
He had begun to sit up when I arrived, not seeming to notice as I slowly crawled from the stairs to where he lay. When he did hear me sliding across the floor, his face fell as he saw me. 

“What happened? Are you badly hurt?” the words tumbled out of his mouth as he reached for my hand, “You opened the portal, didn’t you? Did it not work?” he breathed, “I can still sense the energy pulsing through you. Your skin is hot to the touch, and your eyes are still blue, but they’re now clouded. Can you see?”

“It did work.” I groaned. “The portal is closed. I don’t know if I’m alright yet.” I whined a little as I forced myself to sit. “I feel like my entire body is on fire, and I can barely hear anything still my ears are ringing so bad. I can see, but barely. It’s still fuzzy but improving-”

Loki cut me off with a hug. It was a light, gentle hug, given that both of us were in pain, but the relief that came from it was nothing short of arresting. Time seemed to slow, the pain in my body began to ebb away faster, and I returned his embrace with a shaky sigh. Something about it felt so right, like I was at home.  
“Then the job is finally done.” Loki sighed into my shoulder. “I am extremely grateful that you remain relatively unharmed. I feared a great deal for you, when you took the scepter. I don’t know what I would do with myself if you hadn’t-”  
“And I you.” I said, silencing him with a finger, releasing the hug as my cheeks flushed red.  
I heard a groaning noise from the elevator shaft nearby. “Listen to me. You need to surrender, not fight! If you fight, the Other will come after you. Get caught, “fail”. I can hear them coming up the elevator.”  
“Who?”

“What is going on here??” Clint’s voice asked.

Loki and I both turned to see the entirety of the Avengers, Hulk included, walking in from the elevator, standing at the entrance to the room, backlit by the light of the sun, their backs to the balcony. Clint had his bow trained on Loki, and Natasha came down the stairs to join them with the scepter, staring at the both of us.

“If it’s all the same to you,” Loki said, nodding to Stark as he sat up straighter, “I’ll have that drink now.”


	7. Chapter 7

After the Avengers had detained Loki, I was taken to a nearby hospital to be checked over. I sat in silence as the doctors and nurses looked me over, making sure that I hadn’t received any permanent damage from the battle. My SHIELD uniform was tattered and torn in places, and parts of it had been removed to clean my cuts and other small wounds.

Soon, my brother arrived, hushing the concerns and questions of the medical staff about the strange energy that still flowed through me. Once we were left alone for a moment, he stood next to me, placing some clothes on the bed next to me.

“Brought you these from your house.” he said, “I hope they’re comfortable.”  
“I’m sure they will be.” I said, leaning in and giving Phil a hug. “I’m so glad you’re alright. I heard about the problem on the helicarrier.”  
Giving me an awkward hug and pat on the back, he smiled slightly. “Nothing we couldn’t handle. Stark was able to make things right again before racing off to the city.” his smile faded. “Y/N, we need to talk about what’s going on.”  
“Is this about what happened with the Tesseract energy, or after that?” I said, playing with my hands to avoid making eye contact. My vision was once again crystal clear, and I wasn’t anxious to recount to my own brother why I no longer needed glasses.

“Neither.” he answered. “I’m here to tell you what you’re going to do because of all of this mess. They’ll debrief you later.”  
“What do you mean?” I asked, looking up at him, “I’ve only just gotten to a hospital room to begin recuperating! How long do I have until I’m officially reassigned?”  
“Once you’re dismissed from the ER.” My elder brother sighed. “It wasn’t my idea, but the higher ups decided that they need research done on the effect of the Tesseract radiation in you. You’ll be in the most prestigious facility that SHIELD offers-”

“Hold the phone one damn minute.” I said, the monitors beeping to reflect my elevated heartbeat, “So I’m going from the hospital, straight to being a freaking lab rat?”

“Only until they understand what is going on, and how to properly contain it.” Phil replied, sitting at the foot of my bed, placing a hand on my leg. “And you’d of course get a few days to get your affairs in order. They’ll figure out what it is, how to stop it, and how to use it for the betterment of the public.”

“So yes. I’ll be a lab rat as long as they feel like it.” I huffed, jerking my leg up away from his touch. “You don’t see anything even slightly wrong with this?”  
“I can’t do anything about it.” he sighed, “They refused to listen to even Director Fury. We were able to get you a few days, but that’s the most we could do.”   
He stood up, moving a bag from a chair by the door to the foot of my bed, “Here are some more things from your place. The rest of it is being moved for you already. I’ll see you around, Y/N.”

He left the room, the door closing softly behind him. As the door clicked, my tears began to fall. Not only was my world continually falling down around me, my very own family seemed powerless to stop it. As my tears continued to dampen the sheet on my hospital bed, my vision suddenly cut out, replaced with bright white light, and then a single image. It looked like a place here in New York, perhaps central park given the greenery. I saw no one, just what was either a bridge or a scenic viewpoint, with the street directly in the foreground. Just as suddenly as it had occurred, the vision ceased, leaving me in the hospital room once more. 

What was the tesseract trying to tell me? I stood up slowly from my bed, taking the heart rate monitor off. I took my torn uniform off, slipping into the casual clothes that my brother had brought from my house. I glanced inside the bag, and smiled to myself. He had placed my pistol, my wallet, and a light sweater inside, nothing else. I placed the pistol in my holster, tying my sweater around my waist. I shoved my wallet in my pocket, and walked to the door. Taking a deep breath, I walked out of the room, hoping that no hospital staff would attempt to stop me. A few concerned looks were shot in my direction, but no one said a word as I walked out of the hospital doors.   
Hailing a cab, I made my way to Central Park. If nothing else, I would be able to get some fresh air before being subjected to endless tests. I got out at my destination, making my way to the one place in the park that I thought was what I had been shown. I stopped short, realizing that all of the Avengers were there. Thor guided Loki by, who was in handcuffs and had a muzzle-like appendage over his mouth. He suddenly looked up, eyes boring straight into my own. 

“You’re leaving?” I mouthed, “At least SHIELD isn’t detaining you here for experimentation.” I thought sarcastically.

“I wish I could say goodbye.” his voice echoed in my head, “For now, speaking with you through the tesseract will have to do.”

“I hope you will be alright,” I said, sighing as Thor handed Loki one end of the container that contained the Cube. “I’ll be trapped, I’ll have no way of knowing.”  
"Simply relax your mind, feel my presence in your heart, and whisper my name.” he replied sullenly. “I will always be there for you, and I shall return."  
Thor turned a handle on the container, and they were engulfed in white light streaking up into the heavens. My blood suddenly ran fire-hot, the Avengers turning to look at the sound of my shouts of pain. A second after, I also was surrounded by the light, and yanked up into the sky.  
It was all over in a moment, and I stood by Thor and Loki in the middle of an enormous, golden city square.

“...What in the nine realms?”


End file.
